In an earlier article, I advised my readers to be an opportunist. When they arise, you seize them. This article is a continuation of that ideal. However, it is slightly more specific, narrower in its scope. Some opportunities come to you. Others opportunities, well, you have to seek them out for yourself. In this case, it's a bit of both.
I came across this... opportunity for opportunities by no accident. Social media has a tendency to collect data on its users, and then, utilize that data in order to generate targeted ads in the hopes of earning more money. Once, I shoe shopped online, and the pair of boots I looked at appeared on the side of my Facebook Newsfeed and Skype screen for weeks. In short: annoying and unhelpful. Despite that time, though, I also see more writerly ads and sponsored posts.
In particular, one sponsored post stood out: Freedom With Writing. It was some article-looking post involving making money for writing. These sorts of posts can be found all around, and most of them are scams. But I kept seeing the page, kept seeing the posts, so I decided to check it out one day.
I clicked on the page, started scrolling, and what I saw surprised me. Post after post after post, listing various opportunities for writers. Writers of all kinds, actually. Contests, articles, short stories, poetry, novels... They describe themselves as a free magazine for writers, and offer up an email subscription for regular updates.
It was like a database of writerly wonder, but was it real, or was it a scam?
So I dug. I clicked on a few of Freedom With Writing's posts. Checked out their website, which arguably, wasn't much. I could make something more complex with my limited HTML background. But each post I clicked, each link I was brought to for a lit mag, journal, contest, or whathaveyou, proved to me more and more that this wasn't some scam.
It was a resource. Of course, as always, I'm not the type to throw myself into any opportunity that appears. You shouldn't, either. Do your research, and be thorough. While I would not trust every post, every link, every claim on Freedom With Writing, I cannot deny that it is a goldmine. It's a bottomless toolkit.
So, take a look and give it a try. You might be surprised with what you find.
Please, share your thoughts with us below! Have you ever heard of Freedom With Writing? Ever used it? If not, do you have any other resources we should know about? And if there is any writerly topic or subject you would like to see discussed, please don't be shy!
